THE HANGOVER REPORT – At TFANA, Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks lead Arin Arbus’s thoroughly satisfying revival of WAITING FOR GODOT

Last night at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, I caught Theatre for a New Audiences’s new production of Samuel Beckett’s seminal play Waiting for Godot. Originally scheduled to open … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Off-Broadway’s DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS is a rambunctiously campy send-up of Bram Stoker’s original

Over at New World Stages, you’ll find the Off-Broadway production of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, which arrives in New York just in time for the Halloween season. Written by … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Laughing through grief: Michael Cruz Kayne’s SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS and Jackie Hoffman’s IT’S OVER WHO HAS WEED?

Over the past week, I came across a pair of shows from comics who used comedy to deal with grief, albeit in divergent ways. Here are my thoughts, as always. … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Broadway’s MELISSA ERRICO celebrates the femme fatale and all things noir in her cabaret show at Birdland

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, cabaret and musical theater fans wil be able to catch Broadway’s Melissa Errico (My Fair Lady with Richard Chamberlain, High Society, Dracula, Passion, etc.) … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – A pair of comics remedy the winter doldrums: Julie Halston in DECLASSIFIED! and Colin Quinn in SMALL TALK

Few things can remedy the winter doldrums than attending a diverting comedy show. Over the past few days, I was able to take in a pair of inspired solo performances … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Surreal, formally rigorous works that investigate the current state: YOU WILL GET SICK and EVANSTON SALT COSTS CLIMBING

Over the course of the past week, I had the opportunity to take in a pair of formally rigorous Off-Broadway productions that conjure surreal worlds in their pursuit to make … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – At Soho Rep, Kate Tarker’s spiked play MONTAG confounds and seduces every step of the way

Earlier this week at the Walkerspace, I attended a performance of Soho Rep’s production of Montag by Kate Tarker. The new play is a vintage offering of Soho Rep, a … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – LESSONS IN SURVIVAL: 1971 is a stylish reenactment of James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni’s rich, still-timely dialogue on Blackness

Last night, the stage version of Lessons in Survival: 1971 opened Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. Co-conceived by Marin Ireland, Peter Mark Kendall, Tyler Thomas (who also directs), and Reggie … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Robert Cuccioli delivers a titanic performance in Irish Rep’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s problematic A TOUCH OF THE POET

This past weekend, I attended a rare revival of Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet, which is currently being staged Off-Broadway by the Irish Repertory Theatre. As one of … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Classical music roundup: Gustavo Dudamel connects to SCHUMANN with the NY Philharmonic & Handel’s RODELINDA returns to the Met

This past week, I paid a visit to the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, who gave a pair of satisfying – if not necessarily transcendent – performances. As … Continue Reading →